Sequences

Sidebar: Automate → Automations → Sequences. A drip campaign: an ordered series of messages, each sent a set time after the last. Someone joins, walks the steps, and either finishes or unsubscribes.

Sequences live as a section on the Automations page. Editing one opens /sequences/{id}/edit; creating one opens /sequences/new. The step-by-step guide is Build a drip sequence.

Growth and up.

Build a sequence

1. Go to Automations and find the Sequences section, or open /sequences/new.
2. Name it — e.g. Welcome drip.
3. Add your first step and write the message. Merge tags work: Use {{first_name}} to personalise.
4. Each step carries its own delay: a number and a unit (minutes, hours or days). On the first step it reads Send … after they subscribe (default 1 day — set 0 for an immediate welcome); on every later step, Then wait … after the previous step, measured from the previous step.
5. Add more steps with Add a step. Reorder with the Move up / Move down arrows on each card; remove one with Remove step in the card's ⋯ menu (a sequence keeps at least one step).
6. Optionally switch a single step off with the switch on its card (it reads Paused instead of On) to skip it without deleting it — see What happens to a step you pause.
7. Optionally give a step a send window: turn on "Only send during set hours" on that step's card, pick the From and Until hours (defaults 09:00–20:00) and click the day buttons (M T W T F S S) for the days of the week. Steps due outside their window wait for it to open. Windows are per step — different steps can keep different hours.
8. Flip the Live toggle, then save with the button in the bar at the bottom of the page: Save draft with it off, Save & go live with it on. The bar says Unsaved changes until you save, then Saved once the save lands. A draft sends nothing: people already in the sequence wait where they are, and the next step they were due goes out once it is live again.

The first enabled step always shows an advisory to keep ads and offers out of the opening message — Meta's policy treats an unsolicited promotional DM as spam. It is guidance only; it never blocks saving.

Delete (in the editor) stops all sends immediately but keeps subscribers parked: the sequence can be restored from the Trash tab on Automations for 30 days and subscribers resume exactly where they were. After 30 days it is purged for good.

The send window

A step's window keeps a 3am "wait 12 hours" step from landing at 3am. The hours you pick are UTC — Instagram doesn't share a contact's timezone, so the editor shows the hour selects with a literal "UTC" label. Convert your intended local hours to UTC when setting them (e.g. 9:00–17:00 in London in winter is 9:00–17:00 UTC; 9:00–17:00 in New York in winter is 14:00–22:00 UTC).

The window must end after it starts, on the same day: overnight windows aren't supported yet, so a window like 23:00–10:00 doesn't work: the editor refuses it and says why. If your local hours cross midnight in UTC, keep to the part of the day that doesn't.

Reuse a message or run a flow

A step can be one of three things — pick with Change on the step's card:

• Write a message — the step's own text, typed on its card. Merge tags fill in for each subscriber.
• Send an existing message — the message of one of your live automations. Only that automation's message (and its links) is reused: its email ask, tap-to-get-the-link button, follow gate and follow-up are not sent by the sequence. Choose what happens when that automation's message changes:
  • Keep this version (the default) — sends the text as it is now, even if the automation is edited or paused later. If the automation is deleted, the step waits until you repair it.
  • Follow the latest — sends the automation's latest published message each time. If the automation is paused or deleted, the step waits until it's live again or you repair it.
• Run a flow — starts one of your live flows for the subscriber. The flow runs on one channel: subscribers on other channels skip this step. The sequence waits for the flow to finish before the next step — or, if the flow is still running after the time limit you set (If the flow is still running after this many hours, continue anyway, 1 to 168 hours, 24 if you leave it blank), it moves on and the flow keeps going on its own. Follow the latest (the default) runs the flow as it is when each subscriber's turn comes; Keep this version runs it only while it is unchanged — if it's edited, the step waits until you choose Use the current version or pick other content. Renaming a flow whose messages use {{flow_name}} counts as a change too, since the name is part of what it sends.

Paused automations and flows are listed as Paused — not available; set one live to use it. Each step shows a simulated preview beside it — what the message looks like for a sample contact with a name, or, switched with Preview as, for one without. Nothing is sent from the preview, and it never shows real timing. When a step would not send as it stands — its automation or flow is deleted, a followed automation is paused, a kept flow version was edited — the preview says Won't send until this is fixed with the reason instead of a message: subscribers wait at that step. If subscribers would move past it without getting anything (an empty message, say), it says Won't send. A step that's switched off says Off — subscribers skip it. A Follow the latest step previews the automation's latest published message; the text you saw when you picked it shows only as a labelled fallback while the latest can't be read. Reload the saved version after a conflict also clears the step notes from your last save.

Going live checks every step. If a step that's on can't send what it points at — the automation or flow was deleted, an automation it follows or a flow it runs is paused, or a flow it keeps a version of was edited — Save & go live is refused and the step is marked with what to do: Pick other content, Use the current version, Open it or Restore it. A message step set to Keep this version goes live even if its automation was paused or edited since — it sends the text you kept; only a deleted automation stops it. A draft still saves, with the same notes.

The timeline

The editor shows a Timeline under the steps: for someone who joins at the time you pick (Now, or Next Monday 08:00 UTC), when each step would go out at the earliest, in UTC, and what its wait counts from — "after they subscribe", "after step 1 sends", or "after the flow in step 2 finishes — or after its time limit, if that comes first". A step moved later by its send window says (moved by the window); a step after a flow shows two times, the earliest and the one if the flow runs to its time limit. A paused step reads Off — subscribers skip it, and if every step is off it says nothing will send.

The times are a simulation of the schedule, not a promise: a step can go out later than shown (a rate limit, a pause, SMS quiet hours), never earlier.

What happens to a step you pause

• Someone whose next step is the paused one passes it at the next check, without it being sent. The step after it is scheduled from that moment, with its own wait.
• Turning it back on never sends it to people who already passed it. People who haven't reached it yet get it as normal.
• Pausing the first step makes the next enabled step the first message; new subscribers skip the paused one.
• A paused flow step someone is already waiting on doesn't stop that flow: it runs on, and the sequence keeps waiting for it as before.
• If every step is off, a new subscriber finishes the sequence straight away.

Editing a live sequence

Every subscriber gets each step at most once, in the order the steps are in now:

• A step you move earlier that they haven't had yet is sent next.
• A step they already had is never repeated, wherever you move it.
• A new step you insert above where they are is delivered to them.
• A step you remove is simply gone for them.
• A step they skipped because it was paused counts as had — they won't get it later.

The time their next message is due doesn't move when you edit; what goes out at that time follows the new order.

Without it — and for anyone who joined before it was switched on for your workspace — a subscriber's place is kept by step number. If you move or insert steps above where someone is, the step now at their number is the one they get next, which can repeat a message they had or pass over one that moved. To be safe, change only the steps after where your subscribers are.

Step results

Results (in the editor's header and on each row of the Sequences list) opens what the sequence did, step by step:

• Subscribers — active, finished, unsubscribed and total, all time.
• One card per step, in the current order (removed steps last): Reached (people whose turn for the step came), then what happened — Sent, Blocked, Skipped, Running, Completed, Timed out, Cancelled — plus Waiting now and On hold now, which count this moment whatever date range you pick. Each number says what it counts, and the rate is sent ÷ reached for that step, never a share of all subscribers. A flow step sends nothing itself, so it has no sent rate.
• Why — the reasons behind blocked, skipped and on-hold numbers, in words.
• People — who is behind the numbers, by name and username only, with where each one is now.

A step is on hold when it can't go out yet but isn't lost: the automation or flow it uses was deleted, an automation it follows or a flow it runs is paused, a flow it keeps a version of was edited, sending is paused, the channel's limit was reached, and so on. They get the step once the reason clears — content problems are checked again every hour. The one exception is the SMS spending limit: if it stays reached for 24 hours, the step is skipped for that subscriber (see Sequence steps to SMS contacts). The Sequences list shows On hold and Needs repair when a step needs you; see Troubleshooting.

How people join

Four ways, all of which point at the same sequence:

1. By hand — open the contact in Contacts and click Subscribe on the sequence's row.
2. A rule — the Subscribe to sequence action. See Automation rules.
3. A flow — the Subscribe to sequence action node. See Flow builder.
4. An automation that leads into one of the above.

Only live sequences appear as a subscribe target.

How people leave

• Unsubscribe on the contact's drawer in Contacts.
• The Unsubscribe from sequence action in a rule or flow.
• They finish the last step — status becomes Completed.
• They opt out of messaging entirely (STOP), which stops every automated send.

Unsubscribing someone who is waiting on a flow step stops the sequence, not the flow: the flow runs on by its own rules (a conversation in progress keeps being answered).

A contact's status shows in their drawer: an active subscription reads "On step N · next <date>", a finished one Completed, a left one Unsubscribed. It also says when they are waiting on a flow or on hold, and why.

A contact enters a given sequence once, ever. Someone who completed or unsubscribed cannot be re-subscribed — the Subscribe button shows a disabled Entered — and re-subscribing an active contact does nothing.

What you see in the list

Each sequence row shows its name, a Live or Draft badge, how many steps it has, and how many subscribers. It also has Results, and On hold or Needs repair when a step needs attention.

Every send still passes the gate

A sequence step is an outbound message like any other: the 24-hour window, consent and rate caps all apply. A step that can't be delivered (window closed, no consent) is skipped for that contact, not retried — the sequence moves on to the next step on its normal schedule. Only a temporary rate cap causes a retry. See Core concepts.

Sequence steps to SMS contacts

SMS is coming soon — it isn't switched on for workspaces yet. Where it is on, a subscriber whose channel is SMS gets each step as a text, and:

• Every step needs documented permission to text them, imported with its evidence in Contacts. A step is never a reply, so a recent text from them doesn't count. A step without permission is skipped for them with the reason.
• Quiet hours (Settings → Channels → SMS) hold a step until the subscriber's own window opens, in their time zone; a step then goes at that time instead of being skipped. The same for your number's daily carrier limit (until midnight Pacific).
• Your SMS spend limit. When it's used up or not set, a step retries every hour for up to 24 hours, then it is skipped for that subscriber and the sequence moves on.
• Someone who opts out (STOP, or in their own words) gets no more steps.
• Each step's editor shows the SMS meter under the message — how many texts it goes out as and the estimated cost (merge tags estimated with sample values). A step over 1,600 characters is skipped for SMS subscribers.

Common questions

What's the difference between a sequence and a broadcast? A sequence is timed relative to when each person joins — everyone gets step 1, then step 2 a day later, on their own clock. A broadcast goes to everyone at once.

Can I edit a live sequence? Yes. People mid-sequence continue from where they are — see Editing a live sequence for what a reorder or a new step means for them.

Can someone be in two sequences at once? Yes.

Why can't I set my sequence live? Any plan can build and save a draft sequence. Setting one live needs Growth or above — "Save & go live" below that is refused with an upgrade message. Returning a live sequence to draft is never blocked. A step whose automation or flow can't be sent also refuses it, naming the step — see Reuse a message or run a flow. See Plans and billing.

Two of us edited the same sequence. The second save is refused with Someone else saved this sequence — nothing is overwritten and your version stays on the page. Choose Reload the saved version or Save my version anyway. If the other version removed a step that is still in yours, saving yours is refused and the message names the step: putting it back would send it again to people who already got it. Delete it from your version first (or add it as a new step on purpose).